For Dinner: An odd kabob-like meal
called Trishimen.
Mood: . Sexual tension
Written in the Year of our Lord 3580, April 3nd,
Wednesday night.Location: Following the river, west of Vagnar, on the continent
of Laufey.

We continued on the next day. Loki is much sparser
than most human worlds. Perhaps it's an inevitable drawback of living in
a world where murder was considered as immoral as jaywalking. There
were vast open spaces, and woodlands, in between villages on the river.
They had never had enough numbers to have a population explosion.

Not that there was anything wrong with
their sex drive...

Nirut came up behind me, and said, "Tell
me something about your type of priest. I understand you do not mate with...anyone?"

"Yes. That's not true of all priests
in the Community Cluster, just those in my particular faith."

"Isn't that difficult?"

"Very, at times."

"Then why--?"

"There are historical reasons, having
to do with some who tried to make church holdings heriditary. It also helps
since believers are supposed to be able to confess to us anything without
disclosure, to not have the sexual factor influence us."

"But don't you need to mate occasionally?
Where the urge is near-overpowering? It is so with us."

"Yes." Lips giving hickeys in places
that would be of interest to a urologist. Being woken up at 4 in the morning
and mounted as one caresses her all over. To have her gasp for breath, again
and again, and being rather smug at making her climax several times
before finally doing the same. The near-magical feeling of trying to make
her pregnant...and succeeding. Her eagerness, her enthusiasm, her natural
talent...the way she looked at me. Her eyes. Her smile. Her laugh. Her. "You were once mated, correct? I know you are not
sexless. Is there something about human sexual drive that I don't understand...?"

"Many humans don't understand it,
either. Some who join the priesthood are relatively sexless. There are
a few humans like that, who simply don't have strong sex drives.
Some are gay, on the other hand, but want to deny it to themselves."

"Gay?"

"Attracted to members of the same
sex."

"Ah. That happens here, too. But
why deny--?"

"Cultural and historical reasons,
combined with their interpretation of their religion. The Cluster is not
a monolith, but a variety of cultures, each of which has its own quirks."

"But that doesn't apply to you.
You like the opposite sex."

"Yes, I do. After my wife and chldren
passed away, I dated a little. It was a disaster. At intimate moments,
the texture and smell and feel would be wrong. I couldn't do anything...I
didn't want to do anything."

"Do you have any animals here on Loki
that only mate with one mate, for life? We had some on Earth."

"Not that I'm aware of, but zoology
is not my field."

"It's called being monogamous."

"But humans aren't naturally monogamous. I've
studied enough about humanity to know that much. The Trojan War,
for instance, started because a woman wasn't monogamous, correct?"

I nodded. "It varies though. Some are
more monogamous than others. And some have something so special...not just
sexual, but with all the emotions that are associated with it with human
relationshps....that it rarely occurs,and spoils you for anything else."

"So you joined the priesthood because
no other woman would satisfy you?"

"Yes. No. I'm not sure. The vast majority of
priests join because they have a Call...they feel such an overwhelming
need to work for God that they are more than willing to sacrifice their
sexuality for it. To a certain extent I did and do feel that Call...but
what to some is a great sacrifice was to me giving up of--relatively little.
I feel a little guilty about that...that the priesthood was not as great
a call while she was alive, that the priesthood was almost a default."

Nirut nodded. "Our religion is simpler
in that respect. There are no restrictions on mating. Tiafen and I had
a good time last night, but there is nothing binding save the moment."

"So you and the guards..."

"When they're off-duty? Of course. Glutheim
does so also. Sometimes they suggest, sometimes we do. We keep it private,
for protective reasons.....too much is involved in the sexual drive, you
can't keep properly alert for enemies if you mate in a public place. So
we keep things private for safety reasons, where your mate and you are
equally vulnerable. Even so, many Survivors have been murdered by those
they are mating with, assassins planted to strike at that most intimate
of times.

"We assumed it was the same
for your culture....because I noticed that you usually do not mate
in sight of others, from what I could gather."

"Uh....well, in all honesty,
that's not a major reason. Some things we don't share very casually
with others, but keep it for just a select few."

"Always?"

"No. Not always."

"There are humans here on Loki.
You've met with some. Are you ever tempted, after taking your vow...?"

"Constantly. A vow doesn't mean
you're dead. But even if I left the priesthood, I would probably
stay celibate. Some things are so fine one time....that any lesser times
would spoil it."